Monthly Archives: January 2017

From Mumbai to Melbourne; and Paris to Poughkeepsie, you can take part in the world’s largest procurement event – free.

Register as an online delegate for The Big Ideas Summit in London here.

Last week, we announced that the Big Ideas Summit 2017 is going global with events in London, Sydney, Chicago, Dubai and Singapore. If you’re interested in getting involved but still not entirely sure what’s going on, look no further! We’ve compiled a list of our most frequently asked questions to get you fully up to speed!

What is it?

The Big Ideas Summit is a unique online event uniting procurement and supply chain professionals from around the globe to drive innovation and inspire change.

When is it?

We kick off the global tour in London on 23 February 2017. But a lively conversation has already begun on Procurious! Expect to see most of the action between 09.00 – 17.00 (GMT) as we share video insights, quotes, photos and summary articles direct from London.

If you can’t join the action live, not to worry. The thought-provoking discussions and debate will continue long after, and we’ll be sharing video footage of all our Influencers Big Ideas throughout February and March on Procurious.

Where is it?

First stop, London! Although our Top Influencers will be meeting in Soho, due to its digital nature Procurious members across the world can get involved from the comfort of their office, armchair or even from the beach!

Procurious members can also use our iOS App to follow the action. It’s available in the Apple iTunes store and is free to download.

How can I join in?

You’ll need to be a registered member of Procurious – join here for free if you haven’t already. Then simply access the Big Ideas Summit Group to soak-up thoughtful opinions, participate in insightful discussion, connect with our Influencers, access exclusive podcasts and interviews and share your own Big Ideas with the Procurious community.

We’ll also be live tweeting throughout the day, so make sure you’re following @procurious_ to share and respond to our tweets using the hashtag #bigideas2017.

Do I have to be a member of Procurious?

Yes. Participation as a Digital Delegate is free and open to all members of Procurious. By joining Procurious, you will not only have access to all the exclusive Big Ideas Summit content, but you will join a community of 19,000 like-minded procurement peers and gain access to all Procurious’ free resources, including being able to:

Upskill on the move with 80+ eLearning modules

Get your procurement questions answered by experts

Find out about relevant professional events around the globe

Become a digital delegate in the global think-tank, Big Ideas Summit 2017

Will Big Ideas be live-streamed?

Procurious boasts a global audience of 19,000+ procurement professionals, from more than 140 countries. If we were to cater to all of these time zones, it would be a tough job – so rather than live-streaming (and keeping you awake at awkward hours), we’ll share exclusive video and podcast interviews with Digital Delegates.

We will be using Periscope to live stream short videos from the day, but these videos – and all the Big Ideas videos and podcast interviews – will be made available to you in the days that follow exclusively on Procurious.

I’m on the fence – why should I take part?

Here are five compelling reasons to join your fellow Procurians and stake your claim to the wealth of knowledge on offer:

An audience with 50 of the world’s top procurement influencers

Get your questions answered by world-class experts

Make powerful new contacts around the globe

Share your own Big Idea and make your voice heard

Access exclusive content & learnings

Who are the ‘Top Influencers’?

The term ‘influencers’ refers to the our 50 face-to-face delegates who attend in each city respectively: London, Sydney, Chicago, Dubai and Singapore.

Our experts span the worlds of procurement, technology, social media, journalism, social media, economics and academia.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly moving from a mesmeric technology to a powerful teammate and a foundation for enterprise and consumer decision making.

However, AI is a young field full of amazing potential. It’s mystery and lack of understanding is also allowing for hype to grow unchecked. Unrealistic claims by advertising agencies of large technology companies of an “AI nirvana” and portrayals by Hollywood movie producers of an “AI apocalypse” are creating a hype machine that is unparalleled in recent history. The reality is somewhere in between these two extreme scenarios.

Every transformative tool that people have created – from the steam engine to the microprocessor – augment human capabilities and enable people to dream bigger and do more. It also creates massive job dislocation and AI will be no different. Except this time around it will impact not just the blue collar jobs but also white collar jobs such as this Japanese Insurance company replacing insurance workers with AI.

Lost within all of this hype and fear is perhaps the greatest benefit I see as an entrepreneur, a senior technology company executive, and an investor – the potential for AI to do good for business and for society.

Machine intelligence, which is a sub-set of AI, will power and create efficient, real-time adaptive businesses. A “Cognitive Business” that makes sense of all available data and rapidly transforms how it engages it customers at the edge and deploys self-learning, self-assuring business processes at the core.

It will greatly help businesses that are drowning today in Big Data analytics and machine learning science projects but are starving for actionable insights and agility. Despite significant investments in customer big data, business intelligence, machine learning, and cognitive computing, these businesses are struggling with three problems:

Too much data and too little insight

Poor linkage between insights discovery and business action

Scarce learnings from actions taken

Going forward these businesses will deploy AI powered cognitive cloud platforms to augment every user experience and business process. These Augmented Intelligence platforms will pair humans and machines so they can achieve something new and exponentially valuable together: intelligent user engagement and business processes that get smarter and more useful with time.

By emulating human cognitive abilities in software such as memory and sequencing, perception, anticipation, problem solving, and decision making, Augmented Intelligence Platforms will help make sense from messy, disparate first and third party data. They will then use the hidden meaning within all data to engage a human being by providing the right advice, at the right time, with the right evidence across any contact point.

These new class of technologies will create a new range of “new collar jobs” to design, model, build, test and manage these systems – much like the Internet and the world wide web created a new class of jobs in the late 1990s.

Keen to learn more about cognitive technology and the impact it will have on procurement? Join our FREE Webinar, Man & Machine, on the 8th February.

Everyone’s talking about the Internet of Things and all of the exciting things it can do for us! But just how much have we considered the possible security risks?

What’s All the IoT Fuss About?

CPOs are becoming ever keener on enhancing hyper-connectivity within their organisations using the Internet of Things. This is unsurprising given the potential opportunities for procurement teams; warehouses that can tell you what parts you’re running out of and reorder them for you, more efficient processes and the chance to revolutionise how they manage supply chains.

Of course, it’s not just businesses that will benefit from IoT. Early adopters are already using IoT in their homes with smart fridges, smart toasters and smart collars for their pets. Experts predict that by 2020, more than half of new organisations will run on IoT.

Given all of these benefits, you might well ask what’s not to love? Well, judging by recent events, it might be prudent for us all to exercise a little more caution as far as IoT is concerned. As it stands, the process is wide open to cyberattacks.

Botnet Zombie Attacks

Individual devices pose almost no threat to any computer or data centre but what happens if millions of them were taken over at once? IoT devices are likely to have weaker security (research suggests that default usernames and passwords for devices are rarely changed), which makes them an easy target. Hackers will pre-program their malware with the most commonly used default passwords in order to hack multiple devices.

Back in October, an IoT botnet, Mirai, attacked a number of the internet’s websites including Spotify, Netflix and PayPal. The botnet works by consistently searching for accessible IoT devices protected by default passwords. Once these have been identified, the malware turns them into remotely controlled bots and is able to use them for large-scale network attacks – think robot zombie army!

This week, computer security journalist Brian Krebs posted an article on his blog, Krebs on Security, revealing the identity of Mirai author to be Paras Jha, owner of a DDoS mitigation service company ProTraf Solutions and a student of Rutgers University. Whilst Mirai has only been used mischievously so far, to shut down certain sites, the actions have brought to question what damage could be inflicted by real cybercriminals.

The Worst Case Scenario

Whilst the Mirai October attacks were relatively harmless and only resulted in some websites crashing, some tech commentators are regarding it as a test-run. It’s concerning that the next botnet attack could be aimed at data theft or physical asset disruption.

As Krebs stated in his blog “These weapons can be wielded by anyone – with any motivation – who’s willing to expend a modicum of time and effort to learn the basic principles of its operation.” Someone with a grievance against a particular website could easily have it taken offline or simply employ a hacker to do it for them.

It’s especially concerning to imagine the consequences of IoT devices being hacked within critical or high security areas such as hospitals, banking, government, transport etc. Time will tell if we are able to secure IoT before we are subject to further, and perhaps more significant, botnet attacks.

What Can Be Done?

How can individuals and organisations improve their IoT security and prevent cyber attacks? We’ve put together a quick checklist to help you strengthen your security.

Wal-Mart Stores began a round of some 1,000 layoffs at its corporate headquarters, with most cuts targeting the retailer’s supply chain operations.

The shakeups, which have been expected, suggest that Wal-Mart is willing to undo much of the work in its existing e-commerce operations in favour of Jet’s signature pricing and fulfilment algorithms, which reward shoppers in real time with savings on items purchased and shipped together.

The dent in its supply chain ranks could undermine one of Wal-Mart’s core strengths: its highly efficient brick-and-mortar-based distribution system.

Approximately 2.5 million phones have been recalled by Samsung due to explosive defects of the Galaxy Note since September 2016.

Recalls happen all the time, but while the Samsung case rose to infamy due to its flammable and potentially injurious nature, the revelation that Samsung’s primary and backup suppliers independently produced a faulty phone component is equally remarkable.

What was a supply chain problem was resolved by an operations solution in this particular case. However, batteries will be subject to more strict quality controls to avoid future issues.

Previous analyses also have suggested Samsung’s rush to production — both before and after the first recall — may have also impacted the finished good’s quality.

Procurement professionals can expect to see pay rises averaging 10% in 2017, according to a salary survey

However, contractors will get the biggest rises – 15% – while permanent staff can expect to get 4%

Sam Walters, associate director at Robert Walters, said: “Across all levels of seniority we have seen demand grow for high quality procurement professionals over the past year, with those with IT procurement experience being particularly highly sought after

As consumers, we’re wary of so-called “free” products and services as there’s always a hidden cost. Why, then, are procurement teams willing to accept free help with supplier selection?

Businesses often seek help with their buying decisions, especially in complicated categories such as telco or energy. Preparing an RFP requires a willingness to trudge through data swamps, while analysing supplier responses requires more than a strong coffee to do properly.

When a third-party broker says that they’ll help – for free – the temptation is to say yes, if only to avoid data swamps and caffeine addiction. However, you need to keep in mind that the people who help “for free” are still going to get paid, just not directly by you. They’ll collect their pay from your suppliers who are willing to pay a commission to get the opportunity to service your organisation. In turn, those suppliers recover commissions from their customers (you), either as a line item on the bill or through higher prices. In the end, you’re still paying for the service, just not up-front.

For large businesses with lots of cost centres, this can be a good way to share the cost of getting help. Branch stores pay their bills and, without realising it, pay for the help you received through higher prices. Procurement managers who use this approach can look like heroes because they claim savings and a successful outcome without having to win broad company endorsement for using expensive 3rd-party assistance.

Selecting suppliers for the wrong reasons

The danger of commission payments is that different suppliers pay different amounts. Some commissions contain a ratchet mechanism with longer contract terms, while higher contract values generate higher commissions.

Unfortunately, brokers who offer their services for free are incentivised to select the suppliers who pay them the most, rather than those who deliver the greatest value to the customer. The usual outcome is long-dated contracts with a single source supplier. At least the billing is easy, but your business will end up paying more in the long-term due to lack of value.

Up-front payments

Paying brokers up-front changes their incentives. Instead of focusing on supplier commissions, they now focus on demonstrating their value to you in a bid to win further business from your organisation. “Brokers” go upmarket and call themselves “consultants”, working harder to realise the greatest-possible savings and service levels. Customer and consultant incentives align.

The positive consequences of fee-for-service payments are shorter contract terms and more suppliers. Shorter contracts reflect a balance between testing market prices with the logistics of changing suppliers. Having more suppliers means you are able to split your requirements across the lowest priced suppliers to get the best possible price for your portfolio of demand, rather than being herded toward a single-source supplier.

“Free” services in IT

For software companies, “free” represents a gateway product, or a way of demonstrating the value of a software product to the customer. It means the software provider doesn’t have to employ a slick-suited sales person and can scale the work of their t-shirt clad developers. Salesforce, one of the leading dealers of enterprise SaaS, costs their customers on average $45,000 per annum. The entry level CRM package is $5 per user but customers quickly pay more to satisfy their needs, getting more value from the base CRM product as they buy additional features and capability.

Our approach at Kansoly is the same. We’re a cloud-based telco procurement platform for businesses running RFPs and reverse auctions. Our base product is free, where we offer to run a telco RFP for you for nothing. What’s in it for us? We gain customer insights and supplier engagement, both vital for making our product better and delivering more value to our larger, fee-paying customers. Our free customers get competition for their services and cost analysis that they would otherwise have to invest in.

Brokers and consultants have always been part of the procurement landscape, but their incentives are defined by the way they’re paid. However, the development of Saas procurement platforms increasingly means that free offers aren’t always related to low-value outcomes.

It’s time for procurement to stretch their muscles and build greater agility. And procurement’s business model can help with that.

At the Big Ideas Summit 2016, we challenged our thought leaders to share their Big Ideas for the future of procurement.

From ideas that have the potential to change the very nature of the procurement profession, to ones that got the assembled minds thinking about the profession’s impact outside of the organisation, the response we received was amazing.

Improving Our Agility

Tony Jones, CPO at Hovis, discusses the importance procurement “stretching its hammies” and increasing its agility and flexibility, and what he is doing at Hovis to deliver on this.

Tony talks about the ‘Flex Model’ as an example of this agility – moving his team away from generalists, and bringing in external, expert resources to cover specific categories not already covered by his own team.

HELP! 2017 is going to be an unlucky year for me – the Chinese Zodiac says I’m going to cock things up.

As a rooster, I’m in deep trouble for 2017. It’s taken me almost 36 years to grasp the fact that in popular Chinese belief your birth sign year is considered unlucky, rather than lucky. Looking back on my last two Rooster years, this makes a sad kind of sense.

If I could, I’d go back in time to visit the pubescent, socially awkward 12-year-old blundering from one disaster to another in 1993. “It’s not your fault!” I’d yell. “It’s all due to the ancient Chinese Zodiac – events are way beyond your ability to control!” I don’t even want to talk about 2005, where I was essentially the same socially-awkward child in a 24-year-old’s body. Again – not the best year for me, but now that I’m aware of it, I can happily lay the blame at the feet of long-dead Han-era astrologers.

Looking into the characteristics of Roosters, and the wider Chinese Zodiac, has been enlightening – firstly because it’s all way more complex than I thought, and secondly because I’m now aware of my own cultural ignorance in this area – but more on that later. First, let’s look at the attributes of a Rooster.

Rooster characteristics

I was hoping to find a quick list of characteristics for Roosters, but the real story is much more complicated than I assumed. It depends not only on your zodiac sign, but the element associated with your year. Here’s a handy guide from www.chinahights.com:

Type of Rooster

Year of Birth

Characteristics

Wood Rooster

1945, 2005

Energetic, overconfident, tender, and unstable

Fire Rooster

1957, 2017

Trustworthy, with a strong sense of timekeeping and responsibility at work

Earth Rooster

1909, 1969

Lovely, generous, trustworthy, and popular with their friends

Gold Rooster

1921, 1981

Determined, brave, persevering, and hardworking

Water Rooster

1933, 1993

Smart, quick-witted, tender-hearted, and compassionate

I was born in ’81, which means I’m a Gold Rooster – determined (kind-of), brave (sometimes), persevering (I’m finishing this article, aren’t I?), hardworking (yes boss), and good-looking (I may have slipped that one in). Interestingly, only Wood Roosters have the characteristic I’d most associate with actual roosters, which is (pardon the pun) “cockiness”.

To complicate things further, there are also animal signs assigned by month (called inner animals), by day (called true animals) and hours (called secret animals). Which means that as well as being a Gold Rooster, I’m also a Rat internally, a Goat truly, and a Tiger secretly. Confused? Blame the astrologers.

Should Roosters ask for a promotion in 2017?

Well, at a macro level, it’s an unlucky year for you overall, but perhaps if you get the details right using the list below, you’ll be fine. In short, when you meet your boss to have that all-important career discussion, make sure you pick the month and day carefully with reference to the Chinese lunar calendar. Ensure you’re wearing gold, brown or yellow (NOT red!), pin a gladiola to your top before the meeting, and try to manoeuvre yourself so you face south or southeast during the conversation.

Lucky stuff for Roosters

Lucky numbers: 5, 7, and 8

Lucky days: the 4th and 26th of any Chinese lunar month

Lucky colours: gold, brown, and yellow

Lucky flowers: gladiola, cockscomb

Lucky directions: south, southeast

Lucky months: the 2nd, 5th, and 11th Chinese lunar months.

Stuff Roosters should avoid

Unlucky colour: red

Unlucky numbers: 1, 3, and 9

Unlucky direction: east

Unlucky months: the 3rd, 9th, and 12th Chinese lunar months

On a serious note – I’m culturally ignorant

How did it take me this long to find out that Chinese birth-sign years are unlucky rather than lucky? I’m ashamed to admit it, but what I’ve displayed is a lack of cultural curiosity. According to Cultural Synergist Dr Tom Verghese, curiosity is one of the attributes that makes for a culturally intelligent leader. Leaders without this attribute lack the motivation to find out more about the cultures they’re working with by asking lots of questions to develop their CQ, or cultural intelligence.

Dr Tom writes, “I believe curiosity should drive each of us in our own inter-cultural explorations. Understanding the values of other cultures and what their celebrations represent is certainly an important step we can all take towards representing and appreciating diversity and inclusion in our communities.”

Lesson learned. This year I’m going to do two things:

Make an effort to display more curiosity as I seek to improve my cultural intelligence, and

We’re often told that supplier diversity is important for any business. But are you able to articulate exactly why this is?

Here’s a cheat-sheet to help you next time a business stakeholder asks why your organisation needs a supplier diversity programme.

1. Supply managers created a lack of diversity, so it’s up to us to fix it

There’s now a level of recognition that the historical underutilisation of diverse businesses is the fault of supply management professionals.

Contributing factors include a narrow focus on cost over other value, restrictive criteria for suppliers, inflexible and non-scalable policies. Underpinning these is a tendency for big business to be most comfortable working similarly sized entities.

A 2009 study from Pew Research has found that while minority-owned firms made up 41 per cent of all companies in the U.S., they only took in 10.9 per cent of overall revenue.

Here’s the good news. Procurement and supply managers are leading the charge to address the issue, with diversity spend now firmly on the agenda and rising every year.

Reversing the contributing factors above has led to a more inclusive focus on overall value (including social benefits) over cost, flexible and scalable policies and criteria for suppliers. There is also a recognition that the strongest business relationships are often made with smaller, more diverse suppliers.

2. Customers are increasingly expecting diversity

Simply put, your customer base is diverse, so your business needs to be diverse as well. Partnerships with diverse suppliers will give your business a competitive advantage when facing changing customer demographics.

For example, if you operate in an area with a rapidly-growing minority population, your key relationships with minority-owned suppliers will become more important than ever.

While the public relations aspect shouldn’t be the prime reason for having a supplier diversity programme, it’s still important to track, measure and report on your diverse supplier base to win recognition from your customers for the work you have done in this area.

3. Diversity drives innovation

A study by CHI Research determined that small businesses generate 13-14 times more patents per employee than large firms. Since diverse suppliers tend to be small businesses, many companies use their supplier diversity programmes to tap into new and varied creative resources and the innovation that is occurring at these firms.

The fierce competition for business amongst diverse suppliers is another driver for innovation. Essentially, diversity brings a number of different backgrounds and life experiences into your supplier mix to overcome homogenous thinking with fresh new perspectives.

4. Diverse suppliers are often more flexible

Similarly, because most diverse suppliers are small businesses, they are usually able to offer greater flexibility, better customer focus and lower cost structures than larger businesses. Smaller, diverse suppliers are less likely to be tied down by restrictive policy, red-tape or innovation-stifling bureaucracy.

5. Well-known organisations are leading the way

Finally, some of the world’s leading companies are moving ahead with impressive supplier diversity programmes. Microsoft, for example, has recently exceeded $2 billion in annual spend with M/WBE businesses.

Another technology giant, Google, launched a best-practice supplier diversity programme in 2015. It brings key partners into the Google Academy for shared learning opportunities that will drive further innovation.

AT&T celebrate their suppliers as one of their “four pillars of diversity”, the other three being the organisation’s employees, community and marketing.

If your organisation’s supplier diversity programme is still only in its infancy, it’s important to increase your focus on this area or risk being left behind.

Interested in learning more about Diversity in Procurement? Register for ISM Diversity 2017, taking place March 1-3 in Orlando, Florida.

Whether global giant or SME, the supply chain ecosystem provides opportunities for all organisations. Particularly those agile enough to adapt to the changing environment.

In our previous article, we looked at how the future of logistics may look from a technological perspective. Today, we’ll look at the potential changes in business models that will define the industry.

Many believe success relies simply on investing in new tech. However, the reality is that these changes are only the tip of the iceberg. The fluidity of working the online revolution has created means that blindly applying pre-Internet age business models is a recipe for stagnation and, ultimately, failure.

Big Data

By using Big Data, logistics providers can identify where to improve, what to invest in and how to grow. This allows them to improve processes and maximise customer service, through faster, cheaper and error-free supply chains.

With the massive potential for useful data offered by IoT, algorithms can predict customer demand and opportunities with increasing accuracy. Used in conjunction with traditional business modelling, they can enable faster and more effective strategic business decisions.

Using information from past transportation activities, can help develop better scheduling, load sequences and ETA predictions, all enhancing customer experience. Further to this, one can use customer segmentation to provide tailored customer service levels, maximising customer retention.

However, there is increasingly an acceptance that Big Data is no good on its own. The key challenge is in ensuring data is fit for purpose by merging all the information in a meaningful and statistically relevant way.

With Big Data, this has always been the biggest danger. And with the proliferation of data sources promised by IoT and further digital integration, it will only become more challenging.

Furthermore, not everyone in the industry will be able to compete with the global giants. Particularly not in terms of data analysis and process efficiency.

There will always be room for smaller operations. Their success will rely on being able to identify specific needs at an individual level, and respond quickly to them. These players will, increasingly, look to collaborative models to enhance their business propositions.

Collaboration

The existence of middle-men is not a new phenomenon. However, it is fair to say that the internet has provided a platform for an unprecedented growth in businesses that own no assets at all.

As an illustration of this, logistics services that add value through the aggregation of information are proliferating. There have always been brokers or consultants, but the ability to harness Big Data means that companies such as Freightex, Flexe and Zupplychain can accelerate competition by becoming market makers.

These market makers are evident in many verticals. AirB&B, Uber and MoneySupermarket are all aggregators of services that add value for customers by using their platform to leverage value from providers.

It’s this capacity for one stop solutions, facilitated by the immediacy of online communication and comparison, that is at the heart of collaborative models.

As the demands for speed and cost-efficiency grow, transparent and flexible logistics services ensure supply adapts to meet demand through increased variety and competition. Centralised marketplaces allow comparison of services and prices, allowing customers to build a bespoke supply chain. Moreover, they arm customers with the ability to switch elements of their supply chain without compromising the whole.

Streamlining Processes

In addition to driving up competition, this collaborative approach highlights how shared digital systems can lead to streamlining of processes.

With, for example, a website that matches available lorries to shipper needs, based on prices and location coverage, one would expect integration on delivery information. And with the future offering the same level of detail and control across each step in the supply chain, real-time information will be visible from initial supplier right through to customer delivery.

The potential for savings all along the logistics chain is frankly massive. From empty miles and storage capacity underuse/excess, to re-arranged courier delivery scheduling, huge opportunities exist.

This model allows niche companies to continue to compete against full-solution supply chain providers. In addition, with greater transparency, each player can manage their own credibility without being undermined by partners who may under-deliver. Just as end-customers can expect to move more easily, niche providers will be able to change partners with greater flexibility.

The challenges of the collaborative models are bound up in compliance and in consistency of approach across different providers. Trust – whether it’s implicit through brand management or gained explicitly through insurance – is a vital component for these models.

And as with all new technologies, industry standards will need to evolve and become entrenched. While this is already occurring, there may be inter-operability challenges.

Adapting to the Ecosystem

The reality is that the drive for greater efficiency cannot be achieved without companies embracing change. Alongside this will be adopting tools required to get there – be they technology, workplace management, planning, systems or mindset.

The bigger companies in the industry will look to achieve greater traction through the diverse data harvesting potential of IoT and the forecasting it can fuel through big data analysis. However, SMEs will always have the advantage of greater agility in the marketplace.

It may well be that the potential of the sharing economy, empowered by the immediacy of online tools, can give a disproportionate strength to smaller providers who act collaboratively to access a wide market whilst maintaining the flexibility inherent in their size.

Furthermore, quick thinking, and quick-acting, organisations can succeed through fresh workplace management (such as in recruitment and training), as well as accurate identification of what technological advances (such as 3D printing, augmented reality tools or automated last mile delivery) will work for them.

Lions will always be at the top of the food chain. But the ecosystem is constantly evolving to ensure every animal, if agile or crafty enough, has its niche.

Zupplychain employs algorithmic matching of customer’s search requirements to warehouse availability to show warehouse pricing, along with an automated and structured process to progress enquiries and a cloud based system to manage customer stock in provider’s warehouses.

Never underestimate the power of networking, or meeting new people over a cup of coffee. You never know how it’s going to positively impact your career.

Procurious recently launched Bravo, a new group seeking to address gender disparity in the workplace, and celebrate and empower women working within procurement.

As part of the Bravo campaign, Procurious will be interviewing a number of high profile leaders and seeking their advice on how we can help other women to get ahead in their procurement careers.

Tina Fegent has over 25 years experience working within Marketing Procurement. She founded Tina Fegent Consulting in 2006 to offer a Marketing Procurement Consultancy service to clients including Adidas, Vodafone and KPMG.

In 2014, she was awarded a Women in Marketing Award for the Best Female Marketer and has recently been awarded a CIPS Fellowship for her “significant and ongoing contribution to the community”.

In this interview, Tina discusses what makes a great leader, how she has achieved success and offers her advice to procurement rising stars.

What have been the most successful approaches organisations you know have taken to decrease gender disparity?

With the exception of my first post-university job, I have had good experiences with gender-balance in the workplace.

All of the organisations I have worked for had a balance of spend in both direct and indirect procurement. The CPOs recruited the right people for the right jobs, which resulted in an equal numbers of male and female employees.

In my opinion, it’s important to always be conscious of maintaining that balance. Organisations (and individual employees) that consistently encourage and support workplace diversity will be the most successful.

Why is it important to you to advocate women in procurement?

I think Procurement has traditionally been regarded as a male-dominated environment. The function developed in the manufacturing or direct lines of spend which were industries typically associated with men.

Over the years, the function has evolved and expanded to also include service buying and marketing procurement.

These developments have changed procurement’s image and people’s perceptions of the function. As such, more people in general, including more women, have been drawn to procurement.

When you attend a procurement conference, the gender disparity still seems very apparent. We need to encourage more women into the senior roles by supporting and nurturing our rising stars. We can make a start within our organisations by being proud of what they do, what they have achieved and then shouting it from the rooftops!

What 3 attributes make a great leader?

Being a people-person

The acceptance that being a great leader often means accepting that those you lead are more skilled than you

Making the time to lead and support your team

What are three pivotal things that have brought you to where you are today?

Experience and carefully planning which roles to take at certain times. It’s always key to consider what a new role can do for you and your future career.

Emotional Intelligence – Being tuned into the environment in which you work

Knowledge and Investment in learning – Never stop reading, attending events and conference, using social media and, most importantly, networking!

What tips/advice would you give to Procurement rising stars?

Always be yourself but, at the same time, be tuned into what is and isn’t working for you. If you can, and if you want to, change the elements that aren’t working.

I would advise rising stars to ignore references to glass ceilings and smashing through them. You should follow your own path and deal with any rocks that come your way, in the way you want to and that suits you.

Finally, keep networking and connecting with the right people. I always say you can never have too many cups of coffee!

At Procurious, we want to make it easier for women to get into, stay in, and thrive in the procurement profession. This is why we are launching Bravo – a Procurious Group celebrating and promoting women in Procurement. Join the conversation here.

There are two types of company left – brave or dead. Considering what’s coming in the next 15 years, now is definitely the time to be brave.

Increasingly, there are only two kinds of companies: brave and dead.

When world renowned speaker and author, Seth Godin, talks about the future of businesses, people listen. And when Godin warns of extinction if companies aren’t brave, then you certainly want to be in the first category.

Change is coming. Not only for procurement and supply chains, but for businesses as a whole. And businesses that choose to bury their heads in the sand on key issues aren’t going to survive long. But what are the key issues they need to be focusing on?

Respected futurist, entrepreneur, and author of global best-seller, ‘An Optimist’s Tour of the Future‘, Mark Stevenson, is one man who understands the key trends heading our way. An expert on global trends and innovation, he will be setting the scene with our opening keynote at the Big Ideas Summit 2017 in London.

A Futurist’s Perspective

We’re well aware of the technological changes coming our way in the next 10-15 years. Automation, AI, and 3D printing, amongst others, have all made headlines already given their impact on manufacturing, supply chains and business models.

Industry 4.0 has presented organisations with an immense opportunity to change the way they work. However, there are still too many companies with their heads in the sand, being left behind.

According to Stevenson, there are several technology waves coming in the next decade. With each one, industries will be disrupted, but new models and strategies will arise. Companies need to account for three key components – geo-politics; geo-economics; and geo-technology.

This isn’t an either/or situation – all three are crucial. But the companies that can take advantage of these waves will not only attract the best staff, they will seriously outperform all their rivals.

The Energy Race

One of the first waves will be in renewable energy, and a final step away from fossil fuels. Even oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia are planning for this future, advising they will be ‘getting out of oil’ in the next 20 years. Even now, organisations are generating their own energy, or are buying energy through co-operatives. The traditionally big players in the industry will increasingly be bypassed, as energy gets cheaper and more locally generated, something that can only be a benefit for individuals and organisations.

Financial Services Disruption

What will happen to the Financial Services industry? Can it survive this disruption? Yes, but it will need to evolve to survive. Stevenson uses the example of the blockchain as a key disruptor. He is on the board of a new bank which embraces blockchain and has about 50 staff.

This is a far cry from the enormous, staff heavy traditional models, who have thousands of staff praying that blockchain is just a bad dream, hampering their ability to innovate. As the novelist Upton Sinclair noted “It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it”.

Manufacturing Revolution

An area where supply chains are already seeing major disruption is in manufacturing. Of this revolution, Stevenson highlights the potential for 3D Printing.

Organisations can bring much manufacturing in house. Designs can be downloaded and printed on site, at a fraction of the cost in some cases. One industry looking at this is pharmaceuticals – the first 3D printed drug is already FDA approved.

Unlocking the Genome

Genetics and Bio-Technology represent a technological wave that many have yet to consider. Advancements in human longevity change the game for the medical industry, but leave organisations with decisions to make on staff. What do retirement, long-term strategy, even relationships look like if we might live healthily past 100? And, to loop back to the energy race, bio-technology is one disciipline that is already being leveraged to pull CO2 from the skyu and turn it into liquid fuel. Why shouldn’t procurement be at the heart of this revolution too?

Time to Be Brave

Ultimately, Stevenson’s message boils down to one thing – if you don’t understand the questions technology is asking you, then you’re lost. It might seem brutal, but it’s the truth, and trying to ignore it, or pleading ignorance will mean your company may soon be obsolete.

However, the message here is not intended to be doom and gloom. Stevenson reminds us that one option is a future that we can make better for all. He’s keen to engage people on an emotional level, and get them thinking about their careers, and their children’s futures.

It’s time for leaders to engage their hearts, not just their minds. It’s time for us all to get our heads out of the sand and look up. And if we all listen carefully at the Big Ideas Summit 2017, we’ll certainly learn a great deal about our role in making the future sustainable, human, compassionate and just.